It's been a week since Blue had worked as an assistant, he had gotten used to the job somewhat but he still mainly just… stared at the air instead of actually doing his job, anything he did something. He would be reminded of his Raticate and his Wartortle, his first two Pokemon that he both failed.
Blue sat on the Pokemon Center chair, he stayed on it for so long that many people know this chair as just the chair that the spiky haired kid sits on. However he was not looking at people around him, he was looking at the TV, more specifically the news which was the only channel in the entire city.
It would be an understatement to say that Blue didn't like watching news compared to well anything else but it was still the only source of entertainment for him. But today, the channel decided to show something he never expected.
The familiar intro of "Zapdos News Network" played as usual, the triumphant almost heroic jingle accompanied by an animated Zapdos flying past the screen, followed by the familiar polished voice of anchor Klara Slade.
"Good evening, Kanto. I'm Klara Slade, and this is your nine o'clock." She said, appearing on screen in her black suit, ripped a little, showing her pink shirt underneath. Klara was well known for her perfect pink hair, matching her shirt but not so much for her actual speaking skills.
The background flickered to a sky view of Celadon City—the biggest city in all of Kanto. "We begin tonight with disturbing news that has come out of Celadon CIty. A rare Pokemon known as Wartortle has reportedly been auctioned off by known criminal organisation, Team Rocket." Immediately Blue became alerted, just the word Wartortle being said made his skin crawl though not as much as Raticate but it got worse… much worse.
The anchor stepped away and the background cut to a grainy picture of a Wartortle in a cage with a $75,000 tag under it as it snarled in the picture. It was at that moment that any hopes that this was a different Wartortle were crushed and he looked back at the nurse, holding back his anger at allowing his Wartortle to be caught by Team Rocket. But that was when he spotted something strange; the nurse seemed to be laughing and she was… looking at the screen.
However Blue looked back at the screen almost immediately, forgetting that the nurse laughed. The anchor continued. "Authorities at Celadon including gym leader Erika say that the auction is still taking place however they are unable to help stop this criminal action for various reasons such as not knowing the exact location of this auction." The boy's blood boiled at the idea that authorities such as gym leaders allow these criminal actions to continue because "they are too busy" to the point he nearly punched the wall before taking control of himself.
He got up and walked to the door. If the authorities aren't doing anything then he will do something about it. He never thought he'll ever retrieve his Pokemon again but here he is doing it a week later. It was quite reliving that it was a fast walk—especially considering how long it felt earlier. Blue looked at the daycare door and opened it again to see the gentleman who was taking care of his Pokemon.
"Ah young boy, you are back. Not many trainers let me care for their Pokemon for this long so I am honored that you trusted me that much." He said as he walked up to the spiky haired kid. "Tell me, are you here to retrieve your Pokemon?"
"Yes, I am here for that." Blue said as he gave his right hand, this had been the second time he had been complimented yet it still didn't feel earned. This was probably going to be his last time using his Pokemon, he didn't feel he was worthy of being a trainer after getting his Raticate killed but if he didn't even try to save his Wartortle, he would feel that he wasn't worthy enough to be a human being.
The gentleman walked towards the back door as Blue waited patiently in the same place, he didn't know how someone could live in this, maybe there's a basement where he really lives? Finally after minutes, the gentleman arrived back and handed the pokeballs to Blue, whose hands were relieved they weren't being held out for however long. "That would be $10,000."
"Thank you." Blue said as he gave the gentleman his money—literally all of it as that was the exact amount he had and went out of this house and put one pokeball on his bag while throwing another towards the ground, releasing Kadabra. "Kada!" It roared as it was let out of it's ball.
Blue kneeled towards the psy Pokemon. "Kadabara, teleport me to Celadon City please." He said as held his Pokemon, the most polite words he had said since childhood and Kadabra did teleport… to a tree.
"Wo-woah." The spiky haired kid said as he tried to stand on the branch but then—"Jark!" He fell down face first into the grass, causing a smaller sound. Blue got up and wiped his face—filled with dirt before looking up to see Kadabara simply smirking.
"Oh come on, Kadabra, I told you to teleport to the Pokemon Center." Blue said as he wiped more of his face, even the parts he had already wiped before. Thankfully Kadabra teleported him somewhere close so he didn't have to feel the pain of being rearranged. "Look, I understand that you felt abandoned by me—I literally told you I was never gonna retrieve you and suddenly I came back to you? That's bound to make anyone angry but you have to understand, certain circumstances forced me."
Kadabra stopped smirking and listened closely to it's former trainer, wondering what he's talking about. "You know, I lost Wartortle, right?" Blue asked, making Kadabra nod. "Well, let's just say I finally found him… being auctioned off by Team Rocket! And I am not going to let my starter be sold!" He shouted, every word filled with anger, causing the psi Pokemon to teleport next him while Pidgeotto simply nodded in it's pokeball.
"Now Kadabra, actually teleport me to…" Blue said but as the name Celadon entered his mind, he remembered something else that happened at the center. He remembered Nurse Joy—the same one that he asked to look for his Wartortle laughing while watching the TV, perhaps he was imagining things but perhaps Joy—that Joy knew something he didn't know about Wartortle.
"Nevermind, Cerulean City Pokemon Center please." He said, causing Kadabra to look at him in confusion before executing his order. It felt slightly less painful than before or maybe he had gotten used to this? Either way, it wasn't as impactful as before but what is impactful is what happens afterwards.
Because he let his guard down, Blue nearly fell to the ground as his body was finally rearranged back to normal but then he saw Kadabra falling and held him, preventing him from collapsing to the floor. The psi Pokemon didn't look… ready for battle—or at least as much as usual so he would probably use Pidgeotto to fight Joy.
He quickly withdrew it back to it's pokeball as it regain it's composure and opened the door of the Pokemon Center, however it was at that moment that he realized… if he attacked Joy here, it would cause a scene and everyone would probably think he's crazy.
Blue gulped in anger but as he saw the nurse on the counter, the idea that maybe he was just imagining slowly faded from his brain. He sat down on the same chair that he sat on before. 'What am I gonna do? I can't confront her now, everyone would think I am crazy but I can't leave alone like that—she probably knows more than I do and probably knows where the auction is taking place.' He thought to himself, it felt weird to trust his instinct but he hoped that this it'll end well for his Wartortle.
'Well surely Joy has to rest sometimes so I guess I could ambush her when she tries to leave, that'll work—no it'll take too much time.' His thoughts continued but that was when suddenly a genius idea came to his mind and he smirked—the first time in a while.
Loud "Kada! Kada! Kada! Kada!" Sounds rang throughout the entire area, causing everyone in the center to close their eyes—all except for Nurse Joy who smirked mysteriously yet again. 'A Wartortle and now a Kadabra!? I truly am a lucky woman.' She thought to herself as she grabbed her phone once more, ready to call for a substitute but stopping herself when she realized it wouldn't take so long.
Blue hid under the grass with Kadabra right beside him, trying desperately to keep his body together—to not let his position be shown. It was a good thing that it's night but still he looked wildly to see if anyone was walking in this city—anyone who could spot him.
It was a very long time for him at least but eventually the door opened, almost giving him a heart attack as he looked at the nurse walking towards him… perhaps she knows he's here but by this point it didn't matter.
"Sandattack!" Blue shouted wildly, causing Joy to begin looking around wildly but too fast to spot him as a Pidgeotto swooped down, her eyes catching it as it threw sand to her face, causing her to collapse onto the ground.
Kadabra immediately rushed towards her and grabbed her hand before teloproting her far away, making Blue sigh in relief that his plan worked. It felt kind of bad that he originally didn't want to use Kadabra but now he's the most important part of his plan.
An hour later
The nurse slowly opened her eyes and saw the spiky haired kid—the one who she had scammed looking off to the distance. She looked around her in panic, trying to see if she could ask for help from her rocket friends but no she was in the wild, tied to a hill, she glanced back a t the boy and spoke. "Where am I!? What did you do to me!?" She shouted, startling Blue who turned around. It was almost certain he knew about her stealing his Wartortle but perhaps he doesn't know about Rocket.
"Oh, you are where you should be." Blue said as he walked over to the nurse and grabbed her chin, making her pull back out of disgust, he was quite annoyed by how long it took for her to wake up and a part of him thought that Wartortle was auctioned by now. "Now speak! Where is my Wartortle!?"
Nurse Joy simply smirked. "Where it should be, boy." She said, Blue's right hand slapped her as he uttered her last words.
Blue walked away backwards and pulled out his pokeball, throwing it to the ground and releasing Kadabra. "I have a Kadabra and I am not afraid to use it." He said, the Kadabra beside him staring at her menacingly just like it's trainer.
Joy simply laughed, confusing both Blue and his Kadabra. "And what are you gonna do with your Kadabra?" She said, laughing again causing the boy to clench his fist in anger.
"Well, if she isn't listening, I guess it's time to pull out the big guns. Kadabara, use psychic." He commanded. The psi Pokemon moved it's spoon towards it, unleashing a powerful force of energy through it. Joy's body lit up with purple energy as her cells started to be slowly rearranged.
"Ahh!" She screamed, making Blue smirk. "Okay! Stop! I'll… give y-you the location!" She shouted at the top of her lungs.
"Kadabra, stop now." Blue commanded. The purple energy evaporated as Blue walked up towards the nurse who had stolen his Pokemon and gave it to Team Rocket. "Tell me, where is the auction taking place?"
Nurse Joy looked at her waist, in her Team Rocket uniform, tied up using a regular rope. "It's… it's at the game corner… basement." She said and with that Blue walked away without saying a word, his mind completely focused on Wartortle and grabbed Kadabra's hands, ready to teleport to Celadon City and grab his Wartortle back. Images of Wartortle being freed flashed before his eyes.
"Three… two… one… teleport!" Blue commanded, his and Kadabra's body being rearranged then rearranged back just like before but… far worse, instead of his body parts being rearranged he could feel every… single… cell in his entire body being turned upside down then right side up then normal then back to rightside down rinse and repeat. Every single second he was in, he wanted to scream but his cells always rearranged so fast that even when he had a mouth he couldn't scream. It was unknowable how long he was in there but what knew was that he was in the process longer… far longer than he was when he teleported to whatever places. A part of him wished he had walked to Celadon but it got knocked by the majority which wanted to save Wartortle as soon as possible.
However eventually he was slowly back to normal and he fell down to the road, the fall feeling empty after what he had previously gone through. "Ahh!" He shouted as he slowly got up and withdrew the Kadabra on the floor, turning to see the game corner and immediately rushing towards the door and opening it.